


Ness' Haunting

by LenoirWhittlethorn



Series: Ghost Hunters: SNK Edition [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Animal Death, Gen, Ghost Hunter AU, Ghosts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-31
Updated: 2015-03-31
Packaged: 2018-03-20 12:42:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3650739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LenoirWhittlethorn/pseuds/LenoirWhittlethorn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is the beginning of a series of episodes. For the most part, the stories will be standalone, save for some. Also consider this as a Modern AU as well.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Ness' Haunting

**Author's Note:**

> This is the beginning of a series of episodes. For the most part, the stories will be standalone, save for some. Also consider this as a Modern AU as well.

When Foley was found dead at dawn, it was clear that something had to be done. Foley just learned how to gallop alongside his mother. Ness carefully placed the blue tarp over Foley, knowing his mother was watching from her stable. That made it three deaths in the span of only two months; the last two were healthy colts. The other horses were becoming more agitated and their bloodshot eyes were clouded with fear. Two of Ness’ best handlers were injured by the very horses they raised, which forced Ness to temporarily close down his ranch.

 

Even though the equestrian specialist gave all the horses clean bills of health, she did state they were jumpier than usual. As if they felt threatened or approached by strangers. But Ness hadn’t hired any new help for a while. When he went to pet Foley’s mother, he remembered one odd  occurrence that happened on the ranch. There was a bad thunderstorm two months ago, enough to trigger flash flood warnings. Somewhere on the property, unmarked graves were revealed from the erosion and even though they were properly reburied, everyone felt uneasy.

 

In the vacant stall on the opposite side of the stable, the reins shook violently on the hook they hung from, which startled Ness and the horses nearby. There was no wind blowing through since the windows were shut and the stable was enclosed. Ness’ stomach flopped when he recognized the stall; it was Petty’s, the first horse to mysteriously die. His mind tried reasoning why the reins shook against gravity, but the only thing he could think of was what his injured handlers whispered about.

 

Ghosts.

 

*****

 

“This is Dita Ness and it is 10pm.” Ness coughed out of nervousness; he wasn’t used to talking out loud. Also he wasn’t comfortable saying his full name, he prefered Ness. Muttering to himself was one thing, but speaking to a camera was out of his comfort zone. “So far, the horses have settled in and no unusual sounds.”

 

The camera he bought had night vision, which startled him whenever he looked into the small viewfinder screen. This was going to be a long night, but Ness was used to the long hours. Whenever pregnant mares were in labor, Ness made sure he was there. These were his children dying. And while he thought this was a dumb venture, he had no other logical explanation.

 

He sat on a stool in the same stall that Petty once dwelled in. Ness remembered when he walked in while Petty was on his last breath. Petty’s death wasn’t as shocking, since he was old, but it was how he died. The vet said Petty had endured high levels of stress, resulting in heart failure. Before that bad storm, the horses were so relaxed they’d sleep on their sides. Now, the stable felt bleaker and while it was entering Autumn, the sun still beamed brightly. But why the stable and the horses?

 

“Note: any creaking noises are from me and this rickety stool. Definitely should get some new ones.” Ness smirked to himself and adjusted his beanie.

 

Particles and spots appeared in his vision, but that was typical being in darkness. What was strange was that all the horses’ ears perked up. It wasn’t from him speaking or the creaking of the stool, but they were alert as if something entered the stable. Ness’ first instinct was to use his eyes to spot the door opening, but realized that was foolish. He carefully got up and moved the camera towards the door and looked only at the small viewfinder screen.

 

In the mixture of green and black, Ness could make out the door and a slight chill ran through him when the door hadn’t budged at all. Still, the horses were shuffling in their stalls, nervous as if someone new was in the stable. His breathing hitched when he heard something crunch by the door. He was alone on the property in the middle of the countryside; his nearest neighbor was twenty miles away.

 

“The horses are nervous. I’ve only seen them act like this whenever a stranger approaches or something resembling a predator is in their midst.” Ness narrated and the horse nearest to him snorted out of frustration. “Snort was from the lovely Berger.” He furrowed his brow; Berger was getting agitated, which wasn’t good.

 

Ness stepped lightly away from Berger’s stall and stood still. At that moment, he heard a few more crunches. Scattered on the floor were dried bits of hay and leaves, which only a hoof or shoe could crunch. It was in front of him though and while he kept his camera on the path in front of him, nothing stirred. There was another crunch, this time only a foot away from Ness. He looked up from the viewfinder and only saw darkness, but he began feeling sick.

 

“Who’s there?” Ness blurted. He suddenly hunched over, ready to vomit, but he only dry heaved.

 

Petty’s reins began banging against the wall and the horses began to neigh in panic. Ness pointed the camera into Petty’s stall, though he wasn’t looking at the area. The reins fell onto the floor and Berger bucked in fear. Ness couldn’t shake off his sudden case of dizziness, so even if he wanted to run, he couldn’t. His chest was tight as if two elephants were playing tug-o-war with him.

 

Then a low, raspy exhale sounded off right into Ness’ right ear.

 

Ness was frozen as the chill spread from the base of his spine to his neck. He couldn’t feel the thick hoodie’s warmth, but for some reason, sweat was dripping down his face. All the horses were frantically stomping their hooves and their whinnies nearly resembled human screams. His kids were beyond terrified. That thought made Ness snap out of his brief paralysis.

 

“I want you out of this stable, you hear me? Leave my kids alone!” Ness started at a murmur but it grew into a furious roar at the end.

 

As if a grenade went off, the stable shook and Ness felt heat rushing back into his bloodstream. Though he knew he could run now, he couldn’t bear to leave the horses alone for the night. Ness groaned as he straightened his back; he was so drained. Ness took out a flashlight and quietly checked in on everyone. They all were breathing heavy as if they were galloping non stop for hundreds of miles.

 

Foley’s mother, Panini, was the only one with her ears fully erect and her stance was stiff. She was staring into Foley’s stall. Ness, angered still by whatever attacked him, charged into Foley’s stall, which was now empty. He remembered that he left an EVP recorder on the floor and he turned off his flashlight.

 

“Panini can hear you, even though I can’t, but whatever you have to say, say it clearly.” Ness announced, even though his throat was raw. He steadily held the camera toward the stall as he stepped backwards. Something small and bright darted away from the EVP recorder, but Ness figured that was just more dust.

 

Then the air shifted and all the horses’ began relaxing, much to Ness’ surprise. He too was relieved as if a boulder was taken off of him. Peace. That was the sensation Ness was experiencing and he looked at the camera’s clock. He gasped in shock.

 

“Whoa, the time is 2am, somehow. Everything seems calmer now, I can only hope I got something. Note to self: give Pastor Nick a call tomorrow, er, later today.” Ness checked the battery power on the camera and saw it was entering the last fifteen percent, which was strange since it was meant to last a lot longer.

 

Ness decided to keep the recorder on and he shut off his camera to conserve power. He had five hours left until sunrise. Without much thought, Ness entered Panini’s stall and welcomed her gentle nuzzling. She was the least aggressive out of all the horses in the stable and it seemed the phenomenon happened closest to her. Drained, Ness sat on a stool and leaned back against the wall. The adrenaline kick was wearing off and while a small part of him admitted to being scared, his protectiveness over the horses outweighed his fear.

 

The gentle breathing coming from Panini lulled Ness into a light doze and eventually into a deep sleep.

 

****

Ness woke up around 6AM, later than his usual time, but he was relieved to see that none of his horses were dead. Though it was still dark, Ness scooped up his recorder and camera, gently stroked all of his horses’ heads and ran to the house. He quickly plugged in everything necessary to play back all the data he collected.

 

The camera’s footage wasn’t much, even during the time Ness was heaving, the stall didn’t appear to have any anomalies. There was only that clip where the strange ball of light shot out from the EVP recorder. Before Ness got to the recordings, he brewed a pot of coffee and took out his cell phone.

 

From 10pm to 12:10am, there was only Ness’ voice and the sounds of horses’ hooves. But there were three distinct sounds at different intervals of time that chilled Ness. Even though the sun was beaming brightly throughout Ness’ home, he shivered.

 

The first recording was around 12:30am, when things were heating up and Ness blurted “Who’s there”, Ness could make out a slow, deep chortle. What was eerie was that the recorder wasn’t near Ness at the time he was getting sick. He grimly pondered if there were more than one. The second time was mere seconds after Ness yelled at whatever was panicking the horses to leave. A sharp, raspy “NO” pierced Ness’s chest and he shook his head. But what puzzled Ness was that the heavy feeling left anyway, so was the snappish reply just a childish backlash?

 

The final sound clip Ness captured was closer to 3am, when Ness started to snore. It was a distorted, barely audible humming of a lullaby of some sort, followed by the same low chortle. Ness quickly grabbed his cell phone and called up the man who lent him the equipment.

 

***

 

“First off, thanks Keith for the equipment, I never would have thought I’d have to resort to that.” Ness spoke into his cell phone around 10am with a large mug of coffee in his free hand. “Hm? Yeah I definitely got something going on at my stable.”

 

“How bad are we talking?” Keith’s low tone was peaked with interest.

 

“Well, I lost a few of my horses and what I experienced last night, really makes me feel like I failed them. I’m going to move the horses to a safer location today and I’m wondering if you’d like to come and investigate.” Ness took a deep chug of his coffee and waited.

 

“It’ll take us a couple days, but we’ll be there, Ness.”

 

“Thank you, Keith.” Ness sighed in relief.

 

“Until then.”

 

Ness parrotted the strange farewell and hung up. Within seconds, Ness dialed up Pastor Nick’s number. Whatever entity dwelled there, it wasn’t friendly and it needed to leave for good. He wasn’t going to let down his kids ever again.


End file.
